A TEAM of investigators dispatched to probe alleged underhand dealings at Zvimba Rural District Council (ZRDC) is reportedly draining thousands of dollars in cash from the already struggling local authority.
The six-member panel, appointed by Local Government minister July Moyo early this year, appears to have been given a blank cheque after its seemingly indefinite tenure was recently extended “until they complete the investigations to clean ZRDC”.
Sources told NewsDay that each individual was paid a $75 daily stipend in cash at a time the council was failing to effectively deliver municipal and other ancillary services to residents of Murombedzi, Banket, Nyabira, Mt Hampden, Trelawney townships and surrounding farms.
Over and above the daily allowances, members of the commission of inquiry are reportedly entitled to fuel and are set to be paid a once-off $2 000 each upon completion of their work.
ZRDC chairperson Tsitsi Kaja confirmed the presence of the investigating team, although she declined to give further details regarding the commissioners’ allowances and terms of reference.
“I am meeting the team this afternoon (last week). I think the best person (sic) who can give you this information is the ministry. The investigation was initiated by the ministry and we are happy because it improves our systems,” she said.
Efforts to get comment from Local Government ministry secretary George Magosvongwe and outgoing Zvimba district administrator Andrew Tizora were fruitless at the time of going to print.
However, contrary to Kaja’s assertion that the council was unanimously behind the probe, insiders said the majority of councillors were opposed to it saying it was bleeding council.
The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) has come out guns blazing, accusing Zanu PF of patronising its membership during elections and then dumping them soon after.
Lamenting that its members continue to wallow in abject poverty, the former war combatants also demanded their share of top posts within the ruling party, presumably as a reward for their prominent participation in the November 2017 coup that toppled former President Robert Mugabe.
In a video recording of a meeting held at Karoi Country Club on Sunday, gleaned by NewsDay, ZNLWVA Mashonaland West chairperson, Cornelius Muoni bemoaned the deteriorating relationship between the ex-freedom fighters and Zanu PF, reiterating the bitterness was due to the continued abuse and neglect of his association’s members.
“How can there be a cordial relationship between us and Zanu PF when you look down upon us? This has led to the strained relations existing as we speak.
“We want to re-affirm our loyalty and respect for His Excellency (President Emmerson Mnangagwa). However, we put it across that war veterans are down-trodden and are languishing in abject poverty despite having fought for the country’s independence. This neglect has been the case for years, resulting in the ordinary people shunning us.
We’re suffering,” Muoni said. ZNLWVA Mashonaland West further demanded that some senior Zanu PF posts be reserved for former guerilla fighters because they were the vanguards of the party.
Muoni alleged that some rich opportunists had infiltrated the party and leveraged on their wealth to secure top posts, thereby exposing Zanu PF to imperialists’ machinations.
Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs minister, Mary Mliswa-Chikoka, who represented Mnangagwa at the meeting conceded the discord and acrimony between government and war veterans, but challenged both parties to mend the rift.
“You are our eyes and ears and also our spokespersons in various communities. War veterans hear a lot of bad things about us as we are denigrated, but you have resolutely remained behind us.
“Let us realise that economic saboteurs will tighten screws in a bid to destabilise the country.”
She added that Defence and War Veterans Affairs minister, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri had, through a recent letter, instructed her to identify a 500-hectare farm for allocation to ex-combatants inorder to improve their welfare.
Mliswa-Chikoka told the war veterans to fend off hunger by actively participating in the ensuing economic revolution, as espoused in Vision 2030, and augment their meagre $200 government allowances through income-generating projects.
Last month, war veterans in Mashonaland Central raised similar concerns after they were sidelined during Independence Day celebrations in Bindura.
Energy minister, Joram Gumbo has revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently authorised the release of 20 million litres of fuel from government’s strategic reserves.
But Gumbo said the fuel released during last month’s Easter Holidays and Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), has now been exhausted hence the current shortages, which has seen the re-emergence of long queues.
“I did explain that there was a huge improvement during the ZITF and Easter because I requested his Excellency (Mnangagwa) to allow me to release what we call ‘strategic fuel’ which is kept by the government and that is what I asked his Excellency. He allowed me and I released that into the market hoping that this would assist (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John) Mangudya,” Gumbo said.
“Industry must provide the forex so that they (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) can dish it out (to import fuel). I had released 20 million litres of fuel last time, 12 million litres of diesel and eight million litres of petrol, into the market from the strategic reserves of government. So you talk to Mangudya about the matter.”
He said enough fuel was already at the bonded warehouse in Mabvuku but in the absence of adequate foreign currency, the product will not be released on the market.
“Regarding payment of that fuel, it requires the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank. It has nothing to do with me, so they are the people to talk to,” Gumbo said.
He also dismissed, as a social media hoax, reports that some companies were blending fuel at levels higher than the stipulated 10%.
“Blending is done by NOIC (National Oil Infrastructure Company) and when they do that they tell you how much blending they are doing. I don’t go for social media stories which mislead a lot of people,” Gumbo said.
Gumbo told Parliament that from today the country will begin to witness an improvement in the supply of fuel as fuel companies had been availed with foreign currency to purchase the scarce commodity.
“Government policy is that there should be enough fuel in the country, and our role as the Energy ministry is that we look for oil outside the country, but when it comes it is bonded and foreign currency is needed for oil companies to purchase it and my ministry is not involved in that,” Gumbo said.
“Today, I spoke to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya and he said that lines of credit had matured and big companies like Zuva, Engen, Sakunda and Puma have started receiving deliveries and from today, tomorrow and the following days there will be oil.”
The Energy minister said the oil stocks in the country can last for a full month, adding that there were two million litres of fuel in bonded houses and 23 days’ supply of diesel.
“We have ships in Beira that are pumping oil. So, the problem is not availability of oil — the issue is about forex to ensure that oil companies buy the oil,” he said. Kadoma Central MP Muchineripi Chinyanganya (MDC) then asked Gumbo to explain government policy on blending fuel.
“We increase fuel by adulterating the original fuel with ethanol to make it more,” Gumbo said.
But Chinyanganya insisted blending meant that government had indirectly increased the price of fuel because if it further increased blending with ethanol by 5% or 10% then it affected its strength and motorists end up travelling lesser distances with blended fuel than pure fuel.
“That assertion is not true. The issue is that we do the adulteration of fuel using renewable energy in order to enhance it,” Gumbo replied.
Prosecutor-General (PG) Kumbirai Hodzi has approached the High Court seeking an order to dismiss former Mines minister Walter Chidakwa’s application for review of his criminal abuse of office trial.
In January, Chidakwa approached the High Court seeking an order to stop his trial at the Harare Magistrates’ Court pending a determination of his review application, but has not pursued the matter, prompting Hodzi to seek its dismissal.
The ex-Cabinet minister was arrested in 2017 on allegations of criminal abuse of office after he appointed then Mines ministry secretary Francis Gudyanga as the sole board member of the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ).
In his earlier application, Chidakwa said he was seeking a review of a Harare magistrate’s decision to throw away his application to stop State attorney Zivanai Macharaga from prosecuting his case.
However, Hodzi’s representative Richard Chikosha recently filed an affidavit urging the High Court to dismiss Chidakwa’s application.
“On January 7, 2019, the first respondent (Chidakwa) made an application for review under case number HC70/19 and served it on the applicant (PG) on the same date. The application did not have the court aquo’s record of proceedings and it was only availed to the applicant on February 1, 2019 and the applicant filed his notice of opposition on February 11, 2019 and served it on the respondents on the same day,” he said.
Chikosha further said after receiving the notice of opposition, Chidakwa did not file an answering affidavit or set down the matter within a month of having been served with the PG’s papers.
“It appears the first respondent is not desirous to prosecute his application for review and that the application was simply made as a way of trying to frustrate the due administration of justice. Wherefore, it is prayed that the review application filed by the first respondent on January 7, 2019 be dismissed for want of prosecution,” he said.
A HARARE magistrate yesterday dismissed an application for the permanent release of former Information Communication Technology (ICT) minister Supa Mandiwanzira’s passport, saying the request was based on lapsed documents.
Mandiwanzira, who appeared before deputy chief magistrate Elijah Makomo, is accused of criminal abuse of office after he allegedly appointed his personal assistant Tawanda Chinembiri to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) board.
Mandiwanzira, who was represented by advocate Thembi Magwaliba, wanted his passport released permanently due to changed circumstances after he was recently acquitted on another charge of unprocedurally awarding a contract to Megawatt Company to do consultancy for State mobile network operator NetOne.
While applying for the release of the passport, Magwaliba said Mandiwanzira intended to travel to India for medication.
But Makomo, in his ruling, said the ex-minister failed to support his request after he filed lapsed documents.
“There is no way this court will determine the application basing on the old application since it indicates dates which came and passed by. The dates are no longer relevant because they can’t support the existing request,” Makomo ruled.
“The accused submitted that he intends to attend (an) e-learning summit. A quick look at the invitation shows that it was extended to the accused in October last year.”
The magistrate said it was common cause that he was ICT minister, but no explanation was made to show if the invitation was extended to him in his personal capacity or as minister.
“Nothing will stop him to travel on his personal capacity if he intends to attend, but what’s crucial is that the conference is to be held six months from now, showing the passport will be required later. No sufficient reasons were given to establish the importance of the release of the passport. In these circumstances, the application is, hereby, dismissed,” Makomo ruled.
Prosecutor Michael Chakandida had alleged Mandiwanzira’s intention was to flee the country, just like other former ministers who are on the run after accessing their passports.
The prosecutor further alleges that the invitations were for March and April, saying the time had lapsed.
Mandiwanzira told the court that he wanted to go for medical treatment in India and also that he had lost business due to the State’s refusal to release his passport since his business required him to travel frequently. The matter was remanded to June 3 for trial.
A JILTED Beatrice man allegedly killed his ex-wife and set her hut on fire in a bid to burn the corpse.
Christopher Chimina of Plot 5, Silver Oak Farm is currently assisting the police with investigations following the death of his ex-wife, Fortunate Muduwa (45), who he allegedly killed at his homestead.
Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza confirmed the incident yesterday.
“I confirm receiving a murder case in Beatrice. The suspect is currently in police custody and will soon be taken to court to answer to a murder charge,” Mwanza said.
According to the police, the accused and deceased separated mid-last year over an undisclosed dispute. After the separation, Chimina relocated to Chinhoyi.
It is reported that during the accused’s absence, Muduwa had a relationship with another man from the same farm.
In March this year, the accused reportedly returned to his plot in Beatrice. It is believed that when the now deceased heard of the return of the accused, she frequently went to see him looking for money for the upkeep of their two minor children.
On May 4, Muduwa allegedly went to visit the accused. A neighbour reportedly discovered smoke coming out from one of the huts.
The neighbour rushed to the scene and discovered that the hut was on fire and that the body of the deceased was also lying outside close to the burning hut. Other villagers tried to put out the fire, but to no avail. The hut was completely destroyed and Muduwa’s body was partially burnt by the raging fire.
A report was made at Beatrice Police Station, where police immediately launched a manhunt for the accused. The following day, police received a tip-off that Chimina had been seen at his homestead. They dispatched police officers to the scene and arrested him.
OVER 400 former Grain Marketing Board (GMB) employees, retrenched four years ago, have approached the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) complaining over the alleged unprofessional handling of their case by labour lawyer Munyaradzi Gwisai.
Gwisai of Munyaradzi Gwisai and Partners Legal Practitioners represented Stephen Machaya and over 400 other workers, who were laid off by the parastatal in 2015 on three months’ notice. The terminations followed a Supreme Court ruling which gave employers the right to terminate workers’ contracts under such conditions.
In a letter addressed to LSZ, the workers said: “We secured his legal services in our case against our former employer over outstanding salaries, pension, housing, funeral and medical aid contributions, in which we won this litigation on July 4, 2016 at the Labour Court in Harare.”
They claimed Gwisai kept the ruling a secret to them.
“Our former employer was supposed to fulfil this Labour Court ruling within six months. However, when that period lapsed without any response from the GMB, Gwisai did not even bother to follow up the matter.
“In fact, much to our utter shock, we received a ‘Memorandum of Agreement for Mutual Separation Upon Termination of Employment Contract’ from the GMB on March 31, 2017 — eight months after the Labour Court ruling,” the letter said.
The ex-workers said the GMB stated in its memorandum that the agreement “supersedes all previous agreements, written or oral, which had existed or now exist between parties — effectively cancelling the Labour Court ruling”, which they were still unaware of.
They said the memorandum was also signed by Gwisai, as the GMB ex-employees legal representative of which they had never instructed him to make such a decision.
“In this regard, we believe that Gwisai acted with gross dishonesty and unprofessionalism not expected of his station. We are of the feeling that it is possible that he was working in cahoots with the GMB to disadvantage us of our dues, which the Labour Court — in its wisdom — had seen fit to award us,” said the ex-workers in their complaint to the LSZ.
The ex-workers said they were hoping the LSZ would investigate the matter and take appropriate action against Gwisai.
LSZ executive secretary Edward Mapara confirmed receiving the complaint from the ex-employees.
“We investigate all the matters we receive. Investigations are still underway. I cannot pre-empt much until we have concluded the investigations,” Mapara said.
Gwisai recently insisted he did a great job and that the former employees were paid in terms of the agreement for mutual separation.
He said he could not update each and every claimant on the development of the case because they were many, but could only talk and issue documents to their representatives.
The ruling Zanu PF is reportedly struggling to restructure its Bulawayo provincial executive following its dissolution by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in March this year due to underperforming.
Retired Colonel George Nare was tasked with co-ordinating the restructuring exercise in Bulawayo. Nare is also the party’s director in the Zanu PF commissariat.
On Sunday, Nare said the restructuring exercise had already taken effect in the cells and branches, with districts now next in line.
Nare said preparations for the provincial elections to choose a new provincial executive were also underway.
But sources close to the goings-on said all was not well, with only a handfull of party members coming forward for most of the cell, branch and district elections, a sign that many people had pulled out of the party for various reasons.
“The restructuring (exercise) has been a torrid task for the party as those responsible could hardly get people to constitute quorums for cells and districts. They ended up co-opting people who were not in those cells and branches to register so that structures are made,” a source said.
“It appears the party’s support base and membership in Bulawayo has dwindled, either due to the G40 fiasco or due to the economic crisis, which might be forcing people to lose trust and confidence in the party.”
Another source who preferred anonymity said the restructuring committees had to resort to luring people through food handouts.
“Over the weekend, they were giving some members three cups of rice each as bait to have them join the restructuring process.” Contacted for comment yesterday, Nare said they were almost done with the restructuring exercise in Bulawayo, claiming all was going well despite the presence of people from other cells and districts who were bent on manipulating the process to their advantage.
“There are some cases where individuals jostle for positions. Some unscrupulous individuals are trying to manipulate elections to their advantage in order to get into provincial structures,” Nare said.
“We are only left with five districts out of the 35. This Sunday, we will have done all districts, then we will be getting into provincial elections. We were supposed to conduct provincial elections on Sunday, but we have postponed and extended the process to May 18 to allow for due processes to be completed.”
Nare said they were ready to deal with unscrupulous elements seeking to disturb the process.
“We are putting mechanisms in place to make sure that we flush out rotten elements, and ensure that all goes well,” he added.
On Sunday, the ruling party’s city centre district elected new leaders in elections conducted at Davies Hall, the provincial headquarters. Caleb Sengu is the new district chairperson after Nkosana Dube withdrew his candidature. Raymond Mtomba was elected the new deputy chairperson, winning against Nkosilathi Dube.
Marvelous Ali is now the women’s league chairperson, deputised by Lydia Phiri.
The youth league chairperson is now Mayibongwe Zvigadza, and is deputised by Emmanuel Sunduza, who were both uncontested.
The party leadership said the dissolution of the party structures in Bulawayo and Harare would address problems that had resulted in the party perennially losing elections in the two metropolitan provinces.
The party appointed Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga to superintend over the party’s affairs in Harare, while Vice-President Kembo Mohadi was assigned to oversee structures in Bulawayo.
Matebeleland North province is experiencing an acute shortage of teachers amid revelations that qualified educators were shunning the area due to the poor living conditions prevailing in most of the institutions.
In a survey carried by Southern Eye this week, primary schools were the most affected.
Majankila Primary School in Bubi was said to be operating with only three teachers.
The other schools that are also worst affected by the teacher crisis include Thuthukani Primary School also in Bubi as well as Chibuya Primary School in Binga where the teachers use makeshift classrooms and live in dilapidated grass-thatched huts.
Esphikeni, Bubi and Pedelis Valley primary schools are also facing staffing challenges.
In all the schools, learning materials like textbooks are inadequate, while proper classroom blocks are non-existent.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure bemoaned the staus quo in the province and called for urgent intervention.
“Matabeleland North region is suffering from extreme marginalisation. The teachers live in makeshift housing and teach multiple grades. Majority of lessons are conducted either in makeshift structures or under trees. The schools are inaccessible and there are serious telecommunication challenges in the region,” he said.
Masaraure added that the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal number four, which emphasises on inclusive access to quality education will remain a pipe dream if government fails to address the crisis.
Matabeleland North provincial education director Jabulani Mpofu was unreachable for comment, but in January he promised to deal with all the problems affecting schools in the province’s remote areas.
Masaraure highlighted the effects of the existing crisis on young learners.
“Learners at primary school require strict monitoring from the teacher. Forcing one teacher to teach multiple grades reduces the time they spend with individual learners and learning time is reduced as well. This results in kids losing trust of the learning process at an early age. Dropping out of school for such kids becomes inevitable,” Masaraure said.
Most of the secondary and primary schools in the region record less than 30% pass rates for Grade 7 and Ordinary-Level classes.
RESIDENTS of Plumtree early this week spend 24 hours without electricity after bees swarmed the electricity poles that carry power lines linking Bulawayo and the border town, stinging Zesa employees, forcing them to defer replacement of stolen copper conductors.
Business reportedly came to a standstill in the dormant border town, triggering fears of a security risk at the country’s entry and exit point to neighbouring Botswana.
The effects were also felt by Solusi University near Tsholotsho, as the educational institution is connected to the Bulawayo grid.
The bees stung the Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company’s (ZETDC) reaction team, which had been deployed to rectify the problem at Khami Bridge area, about 17 kilometres along the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway.
They had to abandon the mission and summoned teams of fumigators from the city, who battled the stinging insects until after hours, leaving no room to finish the job.
The team had to abandon the exercise to complete the job yesterday. Power in Plumtree had gone out in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, leading to Plumtree ZETDC area manager Victor Ndawana informing the Plumtree Civil Protection Unit about the power outage.
“We lost power from Bulawayo at 1am and efforts are underway to rectify the problem,” Ndawana said.
“It is with regret that works on conductor replacement, due to copper theft close to Khami River, will not be finished today. The cause being that other tubular steel poles had aggressive bees inside them. Pest control teams were engaged and are working to contain the bees.”
Recently, Plumtree has been dogged by power outages due to copper cable thefts along the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway, leaving the border town going for days without power.
The border town had previously gone for a week without electricity due to theft of copper cables, affecting business and the delivery of essential services.
Zesa has been losing cables worth millions of dollars to thieves, with some targeting transformer oil for resale on the black market.
